Life, 1909-06-17 · page 14 of 32
Life — June 17, 1909 — page 14: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This satirical article mocks the social anxiety men experience when encountering educated women. The piece offers two strategies: admitting ignorance (humiliating but safe) or bluffing with vague literary knowledge (risky but potentially effective). The humor relies on the early-20th-century anxiety about the growing number of "literary ladies"—educated, intellectual women whose increasing prominence unsettled conventional society. The advice is deliberately absurd: mention "Esoteric Buddhism" or drop references to Henry James while avoiding specific dates or titles, then look "wise" and nod occasionally. The accompanying cartoon "Author Bug" depicts a man overwhelmed by autograph-seekers, satirizing both literary pretension and celebrity culture. The "Tremendous Thought" section below jokes that while King Edward VII's racehorses won the Derby, American presidents would lose political credibility by openly gambling on horses—a commentary on differing standards between British royalty and American democratic leadership. The overall tone is lighthearted mockery of masculine insecurity around female intellectualism.
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Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
850 “LIFE: How to Meet a Literary Lady SHE question as to how to act when one meets a literary lady is constantly growing in im- portance as the number of literary ladies increases. Two courses are plainly open. You can ac knowledge at the start that you are absolutely ignorant, thus throwir Or you by as m. yourself upon her mercy hide your ignorance as best you may ny glittering generalities as you can col lect at such short notice. Each method has its obvious disadvantages. By the first you naturally awaken in the heart—assuming for purposes of convenience that literary ladies have hearts of your companion a sense of pity ympathy for your unfortunate condition. She is apt to forgive you much, of course, on the ground that you are a man. This is always a palliative measure—a sort of refuge. But there ¢ even some things a mere man is supposed to know. As he rushes by the news-stands on his way back and forth from his office, he is bound to learn the titles of some books, and in his aper, if properly vigilant, he may with ordinary intelligence extract some knowledge from the weekly book reviews. It, then, you declare your ignorance even of all this—you may casily go too far, and r asure of contempt inst of commiseration The sece re basis of act method is much the safer. Indeed. on a : knowledge, one may build up a reputa- tion with a literary lady not to be despised. Oftentimes it is well to take the initiative. Ask her bluntly if she has read the latest work on Esoteric Buddhism ? If she hasn’t—and she will be obliged to confess this—you have an advantage at the start Many a young and promising man, however, has been ruined by pressing this advantage too hard in the beginning Over-confident, he has gone on, only to be tripped up at some fatal inattentive moment. Once a young chap of my acquaintance got on swimmingly until, with reckless abandon, he asked the lady if she had read all of Adam Bede's works. The safe way, therefore, is to be modest in your progress, not over-aggressive, and with a certainty that you are per- fectly safe in giving the impression that you know ten times as much as you really do, provided you steer clear of actual names and dates. Now, the etiquette of approaching a literary lady is quite simple. Assuming that all the young and handsome women in the Author Bug: My! 1 WISH 1 WASN'T SO POPULAR; THESE AUTO- GRAPH HUNTERS WILL BE THE DEATH OF Me YET. THE BOOK BROOK chatter, chatter as I flow, o join the bri For men eh may go, room have been preémpted, and this is the only course left open, saunter up gracefully and say: “Good evening. I was reading the other day a little anecdote about our dear old Henry James."* Tell any story you please, so long as you can fit Henry into it, and you are quite safe. After this you have only to look wise, shake your head gravely and make an occasional observation. By and by, when you have succeeded in tearing yourself away, the literary lady will stroll over to your hostess and say, “What a bright fellow he is. Such a pity that a man like that should have chosen a business career! ”” M Tremendous Thought BSERVING that King Edward had won the Derby, the Springfield Republican speaks up to say that no Presi dent of the United States could “gain in popular favor by winning for the White House stables the blue ribbon of the turf.” Perhaps not. No President has ever gone in for horse- racing while in office But wouldn't you like to sce what the political effect would be if Governor Hughes won the Suburban? comicbooks.com